Lisbeth B. Schorr

Schorr is Lecturer in Social Medicine at Harvard University and Director of the Project on Effective Interventions at Harvard University.

Schorr has also held leadership positions in many of the major national efforts on behalf of children and youth, including the National Center for Children in Poverty, City Year, the National Academy of Science's Board on Children and Families, the ECS National Commission on Governing America's Schools, and the Foundation for Child Development. From 1965 to 1967 she headed the health division of the OEO's Community Action Program.Schorr is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the board of Eureka Communities, and the National Selection Committee of the Ford Foundation/Kennedy School Awards for Innovations in American Government.

Schorr's 1988 book, Within Our Reach: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage, analyzed social programs that succeeded in effectively combating serious social problems (such as high rates of single parenting, youth violence, and school failure). With its documentation of efforts to improve the life prospects of disadvantaged children, Within Our Reach is in wide use in colleges and universities, and by policy makers, practitioners, and advocates for more effective interventions. In Common Purpose: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America, Schorr presented the evidence that by acting strategically, focusing on results, and putting together what works, it is possible to strengthen children and families, and to rebuild communities.

Founder and Director the Pathways Mapping Initiative (PMI), supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, develops new approaches to building a stronger knowledge base about "what works," and provides a broad array of more usable information to communities that are seeking to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children, families, and neighborhoods. Schorr also co-chairs the Aspen Institute's Roundtable on Community Change.